The present invention relates to an observation wheel type ride.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
Observation wheels or giant wheels are common in cities and on fairgrounds. Due to their height and their slow movement they generally provide an impressive view over the surrounding area.
Conventional observation wheels usually include a fixed support structure and a wheel, which is rotatably mounted in the support structure. The mounting is usually accomplished by a central axle or shaft, which is supported in corresponding bearings of the support structure. The wheel further includes an annular construction, generally designated as “ring”, which supports a plurality of passenger seats or cabins. The connection between the annular structure and the central axle or spindle is usually accomplished by a plurality of connecting bars or steel cables, generally designated as “spokes”.
Some observation wheels are designed to have the rotary drive act directly on the central shaft of the wheel or on the annular construction with one or several synchronized drives. Other observation wheels, in particular the larger ones, use a cable, e.g. steel cable, which is fixed to the circumference of the wheel and connected to a rotation drive, which is situated in the support structure below the wheel. The rotary drive acts on the cable via a drive pulley in order to move the wheel.
European Patent Document EP 1 790 402 A1 discloses a drive mechanism for an observation wheel. Although this observation wheel is particular in that it does not have a movable wheel but a fixed annular structure, on which the moving passenger gondolas, which are interconnected with each other by connecting cables, are guided on rails, the drive mechanism is identical to the aforementioned cable drive system of conventional observation wheels. The cable drive system of European Patent Document EP 1 790 402 A1 includes a steel cable, which frictionally engages on rolls of each of the gondolas, thereby moving the gondolas along the rails of the annular structure. The rotational drive of the observation wheel is located directly underneath the annular structure and includes two drive pulleys which are mounted on a single driveshaft of the motor. The steel cable, which runs on both sides along the circumference of the annular structure, is deflected by the drive pulleys in such a way that the cable is constantly changing from side to side. In order to be guided to the drive mechanism, the steel cable, in the lower part of the annular structure, is led away from the circumference of the annular structure in the tangential direction.
The cable drive system according to European Patent Document EP 1 790 402 A1 is disadvantageous in that it requires that the drive mechanism is located directly underneath the annular structure. Further, this design of a drive mechanism requires that the maximum width of the gondolas is less than the distance between the two loops of the driving steel cable, i.e. less than the width of the annular structure, in order to avoid a collision of the gondolas with the tangentially led away section of the steel cable.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved observation wheel like ride to obviate prior art shortcomings.